Looking back on this past semester I can see how my ideas and knowledge have evolved from what I have done in this class. Before I stepped into the first class in January I felt that I was not to say "knowledgeable", but I felt that I knew enough about diversity and I thought I was sensitive enough to know how to handle it in my classroom through the books I would provide to my students. But now I understand what I did know wasn't enough and that there is so many more issues on diversity that we didn't get to cover that I should go out and learn more about. This class taught me that diverse literature has many more components than just accepting and welcoming books that are multi-cultural and that you should have a variety of books on these different cultures in your classroom library and not only that, but that there is a correct way to do this and to choose those books.
One topic that seemed to be ongoing was the insider/outsider debate. Before this class when looking at and reading books I never even took into consideration who wrote the book and if they were qualified or not to be writing this book. Now before I am going to pick a multi-cultural text I know that I should do some research on the author to make sure that I am picking an authentic representation of that culture. I thought it was very beneficial to have all the articles we read along with the novels because every week it gave us a new perception on a different culture and their thoughts of the insider/outsider debate. What I took from these articles every week is that more often than not if the author is an insider than that book is most likely a great and an authentic representation and that usually outsiders are ill-informed. So because of this class I have developed my own thoughts and ideas on this debate and feel a little better going into a library or bookstore and picking out culturally diverse books!
Another topic that I felt that I really grew from was the People with Disabilities literature and the film about the woman who has Autism. When reading books about PWD I never thought about who was writing the book or who was the voice of the book. A lot of disabilities don't allow the people who have them or give them the opportunity to write their experiences so that leaves it up to other people who aren't insiders to write their stories for them. Because of this it is harder to know if the book is really about how the person with the disability feels or how the writer views the disability and how it affects their life. Watching the film it showed me that this woman has so many thoughts and ideas on her disability, but it is very hard for her to get them out, but because of new technology, like the piece of tech. they showed her using, there will be more and more insider books about their disabilities instead of people who work with or are family members of people with disabilities.
Finally, I would just like to add that I really enjoyed this course and I liked the fact that we didn't have to write papers for every book we read because it gave us a chance to just read the text and reflect on it without any pressure about those reflections. I think all the books we read were great and they all opened my eyes to different texts about different cultures. Also by having you bring in all those texts every week showed me that good books are out there about every culture! Because of the weeks I spent in class I feel more prepared for providing diverse literature in my classroom and to my students, but I know that I am nowhere near being an expert and I have a lot more to learn and understand. This class has provided me with a head start on becoming more knowledgeable and sensitive when it comes to choosing diverse literature.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thoughts on Final Project
First off I want to say that I really enjoyed this final project and I am not just saying that. It was different and a lot less stressful than most other projects and I don't know if its because we are blogging and there is something less intimidating than sitting down and writing a paper. The project forced me to venture out and find books that I might not have come across. I chose to do Jewish-American literature because religion has always intrigued me and I love to learn about different religions other than my own. When I was researching books to review for my project I found some great titles online, but when I was looking around bookstores hardly any were available without having to be ordered special for me. I thought this was interesting and when I was there and asked for help to look through what they did have they could barely help me with that. So that was a real eye-opener that Jewish-American literature is under-represented. I loved all the books that I did get my hands on and liked writing their reviews. The whole semester we discussed the whole insider/outsider debate and I think that this project helped me to understand more my own thoughts and let me come to make a final decision on what I think creates the best and most authentic books. Overall, this final is a great way to wrap up the year and gave us an opportunity to use all the knowledge that we gained to look at these books and review.
My Review of a Review by Linda Ludke of the School Library Journal
School Library Journal:
Pre-Gr 3-A book bursting at the seams with ingenuity and creative spirit. When Joseph's overcoat becomes "old and worn," he snips off the patches and turns it into a jacket. When his jacket is beyond repair, he makes a vest. Joseph recycles his garments until he has nothing left. But by trading in his scissors for a pen and paintbrush he creates a story, showing "you can always make something out of nothing." Clever die-cut holes provide clues as to what Joseph will make next: windowpanes in one scene become a scarf upon turning the page. Striking gouache, watercolor, and collage illustrations are chock-full of witty details-letters to read, proverbs on the walls, even a fiddler on the roof. Taback adapted this tale from a Yiddish folk song and the music and English lyrics are appended. The rhythm and repetition make it a perfect story time read-aloud.
-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
I think that the review by Linda Ludke is a great representation of "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat! It got in all the main parts of the book into the review and even mentioned all the little Jewish details that Simms Taback spent so much time sneaking into the artwork of his book. I also am glad that she included the moral of the story that "you can always make something out of nothing". Not only did she include the great aspects of the story, but also included why it would be a great read aloud for the classroom. I did my review before I found her review and I found that I had mentioned all of the items, minus the reason why it is good for read aloud, she mentioned and I think that that shows this book is a great read and it can easily be seen not only by a professional reader, but also by just someone coming across the book.
Pre-Gr 3-A book bursting at the seams with ingenuity and creative spirit. When Joseph's overcoat becomes "old and worn," he snips off the patches and turns it into a jacket. When his jacket is beyond repair, he makes a vest. Joseph recycles his garments until he has nothing left. But by trading in his scissors for a pen and paintbrush he creates a story, showing "you can always make something out of nothing." Clever die-cut holes provide clues as to what Joseph will make next: windowpanes in one scene become a scarf upon turning the page. Striking gouache, watercolor, and collage illustrations are chock-full of witty details-letters to read, proverbs on the walls, even a fiddler on the roof. Taback adapted this tale from a Yiddish folk song and the music and English lyrics are appended. The rhythm and repetition make it a perfect story time read-aloud.
-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
I think that the review by Linda Ludke is a great representation of "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat! It got in all the main parts of the book into the review and even mentioned all the little Jewish details that Simms Taback spent so much time sneaking into the artwork of his book. I also am glad that she included the moral of the story that "you can always make something out of nothing". Not only did she include the great aspects of the story, but also included why it would be a great read aloud for the classroom. I did my review before I found her review and I found that I had mentioned all of the items, minus the reason why it is good for read aloud, she mentioned and I think that that shows this book is a great read and it can easily be seen not only by a professional reader, but also by just someone coming across the book.
Book Review: "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry
Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. New York: Yearling, 1989.
This chapter book is the chilling story of one girl's life during the Holocaust and the Nazi's relocating of Jews. Annemarie is a young girl living in Copenhagen as the Nazis slowly take over the city and start to relocate Jews living in the city. To save her friend ,Ellen whose family is being hunted by the Nazis because they found their names on the list of families at the synagogue, Annemarie's family takes her in and pretends that she is their own daughter. Annemarie's family goes to their Uncle Henrik's house where a lot of Jewish families show up to a fake funeral, to fool the Nazis, so that they could be taken to safety in Sweden. Ellen's family, the Rosen's is one of these families and Annemarie, after the war is ended, is told they will return safely a bit later. Annemarie wears her friend's Star of David as a tribute to her.
I think this book is a great story and informs its readers of something that had happened in the past and is an important part of Jewish history. Lois Lowry is an insider author and with this book won the Newberry Medal Award. Not only does this book tell the struggles that Jewish families experienced through a fictional story, but still made sure to include a lot of historical facts within the text. For example, the handkerchief that Annemarie is delivering that was used to hide the scent from the German dogs was really used during the Holocaust. I think this is a great book for 5th and 6th graders to educate them on events that happened during the Holocaust. So not only do this story share the struggles Jewish people endured, but also provides an educational reading.
This chapter book is the chilling story of one girl's life during the Holocaust and the Nazi's relocating of Jews. Annemarie is a young girl living in Copenhagen as the Nazis slowly take over the city and start to relocate Jews living in the city. To save her friend ,Ellen whose family is being hunted by the Nazis because they found their names on the list of families at the synagogue, Annemarie's family takes her in and pretends that she is their own daughter. Annemarie's family goes to their Uncle Henrik's house where a lot of Jewish families show up to a fake funeral, to fool the Nazis, so that they could be taken to safety in Sweden. Ellen's family, the Rosen's is one of these families and Annemarie, after the war is ended, is told they will return safely a bit later. Annemarie wears her friend's Star of David as a tribute to her.
I think this book is a great story and informs its readers of something that had happened in the past and is an important part of Jewish history. Lois Lowry is an insider author and with this book won the Newberry Medal Award. Not only does this book tell the struggles that Jewish families experienced through a fictional story, but still made sure to include a lot of historical facts within the text. For example, the handkerchief that Annemarie is delivering that was used to hide the scent from the German dogs was really used during the Holocaust. I think this is a great book for 5th and 6th graders to educate them on events that happened during the Holocaust. So not only do this story share the struggles Jewish people endured, but also provides an educational reading.
Book Review: "The Chanukkah Guest" by Eric A. Kimmel
Kimmel, Eric A. The Chanukkah Guest. New York: Scholastic Inc. 1988.
This cheery book is about an old woman, Bubba Brayna, who lives in the woods is cooking for Chanukkah and all the guests that are coming over including the Rabbi. Her cooking, including latkes, enticed a bear's sense of smell so he headed towards her house. Bubba Brayna, however, doesn't have a very good ability to hear or see so when the bear shows up to her house she just assumes the bear is the Rabbi and is a bit early. Every time she talked to the "Rabbi" the bear would respond with a grunt, but since she can't hear very well she heard real words. They light the menorah together, play Chanukkah games, and eat all the latkes. After this the bear gets sleepy and Bubba gives him a scarf and sends him on his way wishing him a Happy Chanukkah! A few moments later all the guests show up and the real Rabbi, Bubba is very surprised and told everyone there were no more latkes because the Rabbi ate them all. They explained that it couldn't have been him because he was at the synagogue with the rest. The guests saw all the bear paw prints and figured out what really happened. They had a good laugh and helped Bubba Brayna make more potato latkes!
I though this story was very cute and funny! "The Chanukkah Guest" is a great book and great representative of Jewish literature. It was very authentic and within the text it talked about the certain things that Jewish people take part in during the Chanukkah holiday. Eric Kimmel is an insider author and wrote a great and informative picture book. I think he fit a lot of knowledge withing his pages of work. I also really liked that in the front of the book he included a small glossary of terms that he used in the book to help outsiders understand what he was writing about and what the characters were taking part in. I thought that Bubba Brayna was a very warm and loving character that helped convey the message that everyone deserves a nice Chanukkah!
This cheery book is about an old woman, Bubba Brayna, who lives in the woods is cooking for Chanukkah and all the guests that are coming over including the Rabbi. Her cooking, including latkes, enticed a bear's sense of smell so he headed towards her house. Bubba Brayna, however, doesn't have a very good ability to hear or see so when the bear shows up to her house she just assumes the bear is the Rabbi and is a bit early. Every time she talked to the "Rabbi" the bear would respond with a grunt, but since she can't hear very well she heard real words. They light the menorah together, play Chanukkah games, and eat all the latkes. After this the bear gets sleepy and Bubba gives him a scarf and sends him on his way wishing him a Happy Chanukkah! A few moments later all the guests show up and the real Rabbi, Bubba is very surprised and told everyone there were no more latkes because the Rabbi ate them all. They explained that it couldn't have been him because he was at the synagogue with the rest. The guests saw all the bear paw prints and figured out what really happened. They had a good laugh and helped Bubba Brayna make more potato latkes!
I though this story was very cute and funny! "The Chanukkah Guest" is a great book and great representative of Jewish literature. It was very authentic and within the text it talked about the certain things that Jewish people take part in during the Chanukkah holiday. Eric Kimmel is an insider author and wrote a great and informative picture book. I think he fit a lot of knowledge withing his pages of work. I also really liked that in the front of the book he included a small glossary of terms that he used in the book to help outsiders understand what he was writing about and what the characters were taking part in. I thought that Bubba Brayna was a very warm and loving character that helped convey the message that everyone deserves a nice Chanukkah!
Book Review: "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat" by Simms Taback
Simms, Taback. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. New York: Viking, 1999.
"Joseph Had a Little Overcoat" by Simms Taback was actually inspired by an old Yiddish folk song called "I Had a Little Overcoat". This book starts off with Joseph in his overcoat, but through out the story his coat gets old and tattered so he makes a jacket out of it and when that gets ruined he makes a vest and so on and so on until he ends up with a small button, which he ends up losing and inspired to turn this overcoat's story into a book. In each of his new creations from this overcoat Joseph attends different events and does different things such as visiting his married sister in the city and drinking hot tea with lemon. Every time Joseph had to make his worn out overcoat into a new item there was a cut out on the page giving the reader a clue of what he was going to make his clothing into.
I thought this book was very cute and great for young readers. Although it is not identifiable as Jewish just by reading the text on the pages, but looking at the illustrations it is blatantly a piece of Jewish literature. Through out the book there are little things scattered in the back round of the pages. For example, on page 4 there is a newspaper on the ground that has its title written in Hebrew and has a story on the cover about a Rabbi. Through out the pages most of the characters are wearing Jewish garb and are pictures of historical Jewish figures. Also through out the book Joseph has letters in his house from Poland. There are also other newspapers scattered through out with Yiddish and with titles about Jewish people and events, such as "Fiddler on the Roof". Not only is this a very good and creative book, but also has a message the author was trying to convey, which is "you can always make something out of nothing." Simms Taback is an insider author and with this book won The Caldecott Medal! This book sheds positive light on Jewish literature and even though is not out right informing people on the Jewish religion through words it still does through the pictures and images on the pages. I also thought it was great that he included a note to the readers explaining why he wrote this book and also gave the folk song that inspired this fun book.
"Joseph Had a Little Overcoat" by Simms Taback was actually inspired by an old Yiddish folk song called "I Had a Little Overcoat". This book starts off with Joseph in his overcoat, but through out the story his coat gets old and tattered so he makes a jacket out of it and when that gets ruined he makes a vest and so on and so on until he ends up with a small button, which he ends up losing and inspired to turn this overcoat's story into a book. In each of his new creations from this overcoat Joseph attends different events and does different things such as visiting his married sister in the city and drinking hot tea with lemon. Every time Joseph had to make his worn out overcoat into a new item there was a cut out on the page giving the reader a clue of what he was going to make his clothing into.
I thought this book was very cute and great for young readers. Although it is not identifiable as Jewish just by reading the text on the pages, but looking at the illustrations it is blatantly a piece of Jewish literature. Through out the book there are little things scattered in the back round of the pages. For example, on page 4 there is a newspaper on the ground that has its title written in Hebrew and has a story on the cover about a Rabbi. Through out the pages most of the characters are wearing Jewish garb and are pictures of historical Jewish figures. Also through out the book Joseph has letters in his house from Poland. There are also other newspapers scattered through out with Yiddish and with titles about Jewish people and events, such as "Fiddler on the Roof". Not only is this a very good and creative book, but also has a message the author was trying to convey, which is "you can always make something out of nothing." Simms Taback is an insider author and with this book won The Caldecott Medal! This book sheds positive light on Jewish literature and even though is not out right informing people on the Jewish religion through words it still does through the pictures and images on the pages. I also thought it was great that he included a note to the readers explaining why he wrote this book and also gave the folk song that inspired this fun book.
Book Review: "The Keeping Quilt" by Patricia Polacco
Polacco, Patricia. The Keeping Quilt. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988.
"The Keeping Quilt" is a touching story about the author's, Patricia Polacco, family history and the quilt that has been there through out their lives in America. This keeping quilt is made out of Patricia's Great-Gramma's dress and babushka and other clothing from family and friends. The quilt was used for many religious holidays, different events and was the wedding huppa for each generation of daughters. Through out the story readers notice how the times are changing between each generation, for example how the guests at the weddings behave and even the minor changes in the contents of the handkerchief that is present at each wedding and at the birth of a child, but the quilt always is there exactly how it was many many years ago. This aspect is shown beautifully through the illustrations by they only thing colored on the pages is the quilt representing the staying power of not only the quilt, but the family and its traditions.
After reading this story it brought a tear to my eye. I thought it was very sentimental and not only told the story of Patricia Polacco's family, but also the strong Jewish traditions that even after going through some alterations still hold the same values they did long ago. Patricia Polacco is an insider author of Jewish literature and with this book won the Sydney Taylor award from the Association of Jewish Libraries. Making this book feel even more authentic was the mention of different religious terms, such as wedding huppa, and describing the way things were and how they are today in Jewish tradition. I think that this book is a great edition to any classroom library, about K-3 or 4th grade, because it shows an accurate and positive view on Jewish culture and tradition that only an insider can bring to the pages.
"The Keeping Quilt" is a touching story about the author's, Patricia Polacco, family history and the quilt that has been there through out their lives in America. This keeping quilt is made out of Patricia's Great-Gramma's dress and babushka and other clothing from family and friends. The quilt was used for many religious holidays, different events and was the wedding huppa for each generation of daughters. Through out the story readers notice how the times are changing between each generation, for example how the guests at the weddings behave and even the minor changes in the contents of the handkerchief that is present at each wedding and at the birth of a child, but the quilt always is there exactly how it was many many years ago. This aspect is shown beautifully through the illustrations by they only thing colored on the pages is the quilt representing the staying power of not only the quilt, but the family and its traditions.
After reading this story it brought a tear to my eye. I thought it was very sentimental and not only told the story of Patricia Polacco's family, but also the strong Jewish traditions that even after going through some alterations still hold the same values they did long ago. Patricia Polacco is an insider author of Jewish literature and with this book won the Sydney Taylor award from the Association of Jewish Libraries. Making this book feel even more authentic was the mention of different religious terms, such as wedding huppa, and describing the way things were and how they are today in Jewish tradition. I think that this book is a great edition to any classroom library, about K-3 or 4th grade, because it shows an accurate and positive view on Jewish culture and tradition that only an insider can bring to the pages.
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